Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz: Commitment to New Orleans

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance located on the campus of Loyola University in New Orleans provides ongoing school and community jazz education programs to help strengthen the school system, provide employment for New Orleans musicians, attract displaced musicians living in other areas of the country back to their hometown, and unite the city’s jazz, arts, and cultural communities. The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance program is the world’s most intensive graduate-level college jazz education program attracting top young jazz musicians from around the globe. During the announcement, the inaugural New Orleans class, performed alongside jazz legends Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and New Orleans native, Terence Blanchard who serves as the program’s artistic director.

Recently, Herbie Hancock, chairman of the Institute, made this comment about the Insitute’s mission, “New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz – and jazz is what made this city the place we know and love. With our “New Orleans Initiative” and a strong partnership with Loyola University, the City of New Orleans, and the New Orleans University Consortium, we’re working to keep jazz alive and vibrant in its home by bringing the next generation of great jazz musicians here to learn and by introducing jazz and its history to young people throughout the city. We know that when jazz flourishes, New Orleans will flourish too.”